Infinitely Losing My Edge
Yeah, I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids from Mongolia and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks.
I'm losing my edge to the internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1967 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Halifax.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo kids in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered nineties.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson to the rap kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.
But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.
I'm losing my edge.
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody.
Every great song by Marine Girls. All the underground hits.
All Make Up tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Little Man record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mad Mike record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sixth Finger,
DNA,
Yellowson,
Black Pus,
Scrapy,
Mr. Review,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Banda Bassotti,
Faraquet,
LL Cool J,
Robert Wyatt,
Franke,
Boogie Down Productions,
Danielle Patucci,
Rhythm & Sound,
Tim Buckley,
Scott Walker,
Theoretical Girls,
The Flesh Eaters,
The Dave Clark Five,
Joy Division,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Young Rascals,
Tears for Fears,
Marc Almond,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Soul II Soul,
Agent Orange,
Tomorrow,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Interpol,
The Selecter,
Donny Hathaway,
Bootsy Collins,
Y Pants,
Suicide,
Lou Christie,
Janne Schatter,
Section 25,
Johnny Osbourne,
Hasil Adkins,
Sun Ra,
Cameo,
Harpers Bizarre,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Tubeway Army,
Depeche Mode,
Matthew Halsall,
Gabor Szabo,
Kerri Chandler,
Procol Harum,
Nils Olav,
Royal Trux,
Babytalk,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Soft Cell,
The Neon Judgement,
David Bowie,
Shuggie Otis,
The Invisible,
The Gap Band,
Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.